Women and wages

I must admit that I will be talking about this topic as an outsider since I am not a woman. In fact, I recall being called a “sexist” for not supporting a certain woman become the Menteri Besar of my home state.

That being said, I must address this school of thought from Isma that women should take a back seat to nurture the family and let men earn the high incomes, to state my own piece.

Women have played and continued to play an important role in Malaysia, from warriors such as Tun Teja to the financial expertise of Bank Negara Malaysia’s Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz. If we look at Islamic history, we even know that the Prophet’s wife was a businesswoman and in fact, was the one who proposed to him, taking the lead in a very unconventional way even in that time.

Thus, such an opinion is archaic and is not Malaysian culture, in at least two states; the land of Che Siti Wan Kembang, Kelantan and the land of the Minangs, Negri Sembilan. Both of these states have always held women in high regards in both administration and commerce.

Similarly, if we look at the Islamic finance industry in Malaysia, the leaders are women. For example, we have Fozia Amanulla who leads Alliance Islamic Bank. We also have our central bank governor who is equally held in high regard.

In addition to this, we have women in administrative positions, secretaries-general for ministries such as Dr Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria in the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, and even as former ministers in the form of Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz.

Even our national KPI checklisters in the Performance and Management Delivery Unit (Pemandu) has acknowledged this with the appointment of three women directors announced just days ago.

As such, how can we truly say that women should not bolster the objective to reach a high income nation, and should instead let men lead?

Are we to say these are all necessary sacrifices to satisfy a gender-based ego (or lack of one, considering the source of this idea) that has been rendered irrelevant?

There is a lot more to consider when coming out with such a statement, primarily the current cost of living as well as the incomes per household and individuals in Malaysia. To simplify, we need to answer three questions before considering whether or not such an idea is viable.

Firstly, what is a livable income in Malaysia?

Secondly, how much do individuals make, and how much do households, with two income streams make?

Thirdly, can a median Malaysian family with a single income stream survive comfortably by himself?

Looking at figures provided by the Malaysian Department of Statistics (DoS), I can sincerely say that in today’s Malaysian society, the conditions do not allow Malaysian married women to take leave to care for their kids.

We look at data from two reports from the (DoS), the Household Income Survey of 2012, the Household Expenditure Survey of 2009/2010 and the Salaries and Wages report of 2013.

A bit of a sidetrack, mean figures represent the average figure between the richest and the poorest. A median figure instead looks at what the majority of people are earning.

In 2010, the average monthly household expenditure was RM2,190 (they don’t have median figures in the report). In urban areas, this figure goes up to RM2,465 a month.

The mean household income is RM5,000 in 2012, which means two income streams, both husband and wife working. However, the median figure for a household income is only RM3,626 a month.

Judging by these figures, it would mean there would be no problem for Malaysians to live comfortably with two income streams.

And now, let’s look at the 2013 Salaries and Wages report. This is where the figures above get blurred.

Individually in 2013, a Malaysian man earns a median monthly wage of only RM1,500. A Malaysian woman also earns only RM1,500 a month. Thus, should they combine their income, it would only reach a figure of RM3,000, barely enough to cope with the cost of living in 2010.

If we were to take Isma’s recommendation seriously, it would mean that Malaysian families would have to rely on an income of only RM1,500 per month for each family. And we are talking about a worker population of 3.4 million women who are earning a wage.

In the 2013 wages report, we are talking about some 1.94 million household bolstered with women earning a median salary of RM1,765 a month. The median monthly salary of a married working Malaysian man is only RM1,800.

To summarise, there is no way a married couple with a single breadwinner dependent only on salaries from an employer can sustain the cost of living in 2010, let alone 2013. Apologies to Isma, but the socioeconomics of it all do not gel.

We are a nation with a population of roughly 50-50 men and women, a 30-70 graduation rate in tertiary education gender wise, but only a third of the working force being women.

Instead of asking women to stop working, we should be asking women to also work. If Isma truly believes there is a need for women to focus on nurturing families instead of contributing in terms of monetary needs to families, I would recommend they join the call for Malaysians to earn a truly livable salary before even comparing ourselves to Japan.

It is only logical to ask women to earn a living because we are no longer a society dominated by men, but one of equal population with women having the academic advantage. I sincerely apologise if some men got their egos bruised about this, but this is fact.

And the fact is that while some of us insist on allowing early marriages, it is economically unfeasible and thus, with lacking income and salaries, would contribute to more issues than advantages.

I urge Isma to reconsider their thoughts on this. – December 23, 2014.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.